Lazy rascals, spending their substance, and more, in riotous living

Anniversary celebrations

It’s pleasing to see that, 5 years after the event, people are still writing variations on “Why the Bombings Mean That We Must Support My Politics.” Today’s contestant is Ron Hassner who, apart from gaining bonus points for the always-popular “more in sorrow than anger” posture, manages to flawlessly pull off one of the more advanced variants, “Why 9/11 Means That We Must Put Politics Aside and Support My Politics.”

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Ultraleft reformists

The curious thing about communism is how blandly realistic it is. It’s a straightforward reformist demand: “yes, go ahead and reform capitalism, but the only conceivable change at this point is towards communism.” Consider the demands for a social wage: it’s the only form of payment that makes any kind of sense given the contemporary […]

Obama: America’s Sarkozy?

I was impressed with his willingness to look at the issues that France faces in a new ways, not bound by tradition and dogmas. — Obama on Sarkozy

Where do we go when there’s no more politics?

You think it was politics. That particular dance, boy, that’s over. — William Gibson,Virtual Light, p. 101 Is politics something historically specific? Put that way, the answer is obviously “yes.” What isn’t historically specific, after all? But that does carry with it the suggestion that Gibson’s character could be right, that maybe politics would be […]